July 26: Pirates (43-54) @ D-backs (42-56); Yanks scouting Snell

First some new news on the trade front…

There may not be any biggest discussion/dilemma in the Pirates’ front office right now than about what to do with Ian Snell. One month ago, the right-hander asked for a demotion to Triple-A, certainly not something you hear a player asking about every day. He also has expressed little interest in coming back to Pittsburgh. Since going to Triple-A Indianapolis, Snell has been unbelievable. He has allowed just two earned runs in 32 1/3 innings (five starts). He has 43 strikeouts and 12 walks.

So it’s no surprise that a number of clubs have already contacted the Pirates to see what it would take to land Snell.

The Yankees are the latest and have a scout at Indianapolis’ Victory Field on Sunday to watch Snell’s start. Though their level of interest in Snell isn’t known, it’s no secret that New York is in the market for a starting pitcher to replace Chien-Ming Wang in the rotation. Obviously, Snell is being looked at as a potential option.

A week ago, GM Neal Huntington made it clear that he does not plan on selling Snell low, even though no one is sure that Snell will ever be able to be successful in Pittsburgh because of the still-present friction between he and the organization based on how he left last month.

“Teams are still hoping to bottom fish and we’re still not ready to just give the guy away,” Huntington said. “At this point, his four or five strong outings haven’t increased his value [externally]. We’re not talented enough and deep enough as an organization to just give away a player that has Major League ability, as challenging as it can be sometimes.”

Still, the Pirates would prefer not to pay Snell’s $4.25 million guaranteed salary next season. And if the Yankees (or any other interested club for that matter) see Snell as a fit, maybe they’ll be willing to part with enough of a package to entice Pittsburgh and solve this problem.

As for today’s other news, notes and randomness…

Lefty Phil Dumatrait is making his second rehab start, first with short-season State College, today. I’ll be sure to pass along the results of that start when he’s done pitching.

After Dumatrait starts on Sunday, he’ll join Double-A Altoona to continue his rehab work for the next week.

For those curious, the Pirates were 44-53 after 97 games last year. They have one fewer win at the same point in the season this year.

The Pirates are currently 11 games under .500. Only once this season have they been further below .500 — a loss on July 12 put the team 12 games under .500 heading into the All-Star break.

Here’s a great quote from D-backs manager A.J. Hinch on Ross Ohlendorf, who you may or may not know graduated from Princeton with a degree in Operations Research and Financial Engineering (for anyone who knows what that means). Said Hinch, who was the D-backs’ farm director when Ohlendorf was coming up through Arizona’s system: “He was the only guy I ever had who asked to be allowed to leave the team for a couple of days to finish his thesis.”

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